In the Fall I will be teaching at Sioux Falls Seminary in Sioux Falls, SD. I am beyond excited for this opportunity to do something I am passionate about: communicate the beauty, complexity, and importance of the Old Testament for the life of faith. This is doubly important to me because my task will be equipping current/future pastors with this knowledge, in the hope that they too will communicate it to their communities of faith. So much of what I strive to do centers on this point: that the Old Testament matters.
I will be teaching three master’s level courses. There is a (perhaps not so) odd fascination I have with what books folk use for their classes, and so I’ve listed the books below that I plan to use for the respective classes. Still working through course requirements, paper and sermon specs, and whether I’ll even do tests or not. Really trying to think of creative activities to bring the materials from the respective courses into the church or the various students’ ministries, while still being something I can evaluate. Feel free to drop suggestions in the comments if you have them.
INTRO TO THE OLD TESTAMENT
*Birch, et. al., A Theological Introduction to the Old Testament
*Sharp, Wrestling the Word: The Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Believer
*Seibert, Disturbing Divine Behavior: Troubling Old Testament Images of God
TIOT will be the main text; I’m planning to have the students read Sharp in its entirety for the first week of class to set the tone and provide some fodder for discussion. And with Seibert, having them read, slowly, over the course of the entire semester, culminating with a critical book review of the book.
BIBLICAL HEBREW EXEGESIS
*BHS
*Scott, A Simplified Guide to BHS
*Wegner, Using Old Testament Hebrew in Preaching
*Brotzman, Old Testament Textual Criticism: A Practical Introduction
I have yet to select the texts we will be doing, but my goal is that each week we will address and read in the Hebrew a different literary genre: law, narrative, poetry, psalms, wisdom, oracle, etc. to get a sense of the language of each and the how of reading each. Students will (most likely) be asked to write a paper/sermon that uses Hebrew in a worthwhile and critical way, emphasizing something that the Hebrew has helped them see that they wouldn’t/didn’t realize previously.
TORAH: GENESIS
*Brueggemann, Genesis (Interpretation commentary)
*MacDonald, et. al., Genesis and Christian Theology
The Brueggemann book is phenomenal at getting at the theological issues while still pressing readers to think in very different and unconventional ways about very familiar texts. The MacDonald book is hot off the presses at Eerdmans, and so I am delighted to be using it, especially given its focus on the intersection of Genesis and Theology. It isn’t ideal, ultimately, because far too many of the essays focus on creation or some variation thereof, but I think each week we’ll take an essay or two and spend some time on it. I’m also planning to assign brief targeted articles each week (i.e., Fretheim on creation, Trible on Hagar, etc.). If you have suggestions, drop them in the comments.
I’m also planning with the Genesis class to a) have students consult outside of class at least two additional critical commentaries and bring those insights to the larger weekly discussions, and b) choose a single book from a list I provide of more focused studies on Genesis, and then writing a brief critical review of the book and leading the class through that brief time, as a means of broadening our horizons in Genesis. If you have a particular suggestion for a book to go on that list, drop it in the comments; I already have a list of about 10 compiled off the top of my head.
And so that’s what I’ll be doing. Extremely excited, grateful, hopeful, and prayerful!
Hesed we 'emet 
sounds awesome John! what a good opportunity! does this mean you are at the seminary full time now and not the other school you were at? Blessings,
Have you tried Moberly’s Theology. I think its outstanding and brings together over twenty years of his work on Genesis.
@Nathan: As it stands right now, I have that book on a supplementary list from which each student will choose one book to read on their own and write a brief summary and critical review, to enhance and expand and broaden the collective group’s horizons in Genesis. But as I look over it again now, I may move it to the main text alongside Brueggemann’s Interpretation volume, and drop the ‘Genesis and Christian Theology’ volume just out from Eerdmans (yes, I know you’re an editor!!). The issue for this class with the Eerdmans book is that it deals largely with creation. I had original relegated Moberly to this supplementary list because I struggle with calling this book a THEOLOGY OF GENESIS and not talking much, at least not in any extended theological way, about the other patriarchs (especially Jacob; a quick index scan and perusal of the relevant pages reveals that Jacob receives only the briefest of mentions, though it is he who is Israel!). But this text may better suit the needs of Seminarians and what I’m trying to do in the class. Thanks for bringing it to my attention again. I have some issues with the book, namely in that it doesn’t address theologically some significant avenues and issues in Genesis, but you have made me reconsider where and how I use it. Thanks!
Dr. Anderson, any chance you could do a fellow Baylor Bear a favor? I’m reaching out to select scholars to help me separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of commentaries. Would you mind completing this short survey?
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dFRseFFXb0FSZXhLRXJEVU1TVDQxUlE6MA
Many, many thanks if you can!
Hi John,
Ron Hendel’s forthcoming commentary on Genesis looks to be rather good, so I am told. Personally I have found ‘Studies in the Book of Genesis’ edited by Wénin, ‘The Book of Genesis: Composition, Reception, and Interpretation’ edited by Evans et al, and ‘The Pentateuch: International Perspectives on Current Research’ edited by Dozeman et al to have made for fascinating reading.
All the best.